Holt Logistics expands its wide port leadership

by Tad Thompson | August 07, 2014

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ — A formal July 14 announcement of the construction of a new, state-of-the-art marine terminal in Paulsboro, NJ, is just the latest in a string of Delaware River port victories for Holt Logistics Corp.

The mid-July announcement was made at a press conference attended by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, the board and staff of the South Jersey Port Corporation, various Gloucester County executives and representatives of Holt Logistics at the future site of the facility on the banks of the Delaware River in Paulsboro.

Stevedores at the Gloucester Marine Terminal in Gloucester City, NJ, lift pallets of South African citrus from the hold of Seatrade’s refrigerated cargo ship Green Italia.The planned 190-acre facility will be the first new multi-purpose marine terminal to be constructed on the Delaware River in over 30 years and is estimated to create more than 850 permanent jobs when the new Paulsboro Marine Terminal is fully completed.

“The Paulsboro Opportunity is very exciting for our family, our employees and the people of South Jersey,” said Tom Holt III, business development. “It is a blank canvas with a wide variety of options in terms of cargoes and users. We look forward to getting to work with our partner, the South Jersey Port Corporation, to create another first-class facility along Delaware River.”

In a July 14 Holt Logistics press release, Leo Holt, company president, said “The Delaware River really has become a rising tide that can create abundant opportunities for new cargo and business growth for the entire region. Thanks to the leadership and vision of SJPC and Holt Logistics, the Paulsboro Marine Terminal will be a modern, multi-faceted facility that will greatly increase shipping capacity for a full range of commodities. The Delaware River port complex, stretching from Wilmington to Trenton, is known worldwide for safe and efficient handling of steel, forest products, project cargo, rolling stock and containers. World trade has rebounded and this region is one of the epicenters of a new phase of cargo opportunities for traditional and new commodities.

“The new Paulsboro Marine Terminal will help grow the volume of cargo that arrives in our region,” Leo Holt said. “That’s good for our region and for all who work the river, and we are eager to get started.”

According to Holt Logistics, SJPC anticipates completion of a $170 million redevelopment of the Paulsboro terminal by next year. Holt will initially invest in excess of $10 million at the site, which represents the first phase of a private investment. As the facilities and surrounding industrial development areas reach their full potential, Holt anticipates larger investments into the port facility.

Generally speaking, the Holt family is enjoying “heavier business this summer, volume-wise,” Tom Holt indicated. “Our summer business has grown dramatically in the last three to five years. Especially from the west coast of South America in the last five years. We have no slow times anymore.”

The Holt family, which manages Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in Philadelphia, is handling “heavy” containerized volumes of Peruvian avocados and citrus. Summertime Chilean kiwifruit, citrus and apples, as well as New Zealand apples and kiwifruit are also arriving at the Packer Avenue container facility, which is almost directly across the Delaware River from Gloucester City.

“We have seen an increase of refrigerated cargo from all trades into Packer Avenue, especially from the west coast of South America,” Tom Holt said. “Packer Avenue is investing in a new gate project that will be completed by the end of the summer. This is a $5 million investment made by Greenwich Terminals, a Holt Logistics Corp. client company. We are also planning on making a significant investment in refrigerated plugs containers. Packer Avenue has 1,400 plugs on-dock currently, which is high for a container terminal. Looking toward the future we expect we will need more with increased reefer volumes from all of our friends around the world.”

Tom Holt said his firm this year has “beefed up our logistics operation focus.” This includes a stronger emphasis on local transportation, local drayage, and bonded and un-bonded cargo bound for Canada.